Filho Will Defend Against Sonnen

Despite announcing this week that he was pulling out of a March 26
WEC middleweight title defense versus Chael Sonnen(Pictures), Paulo Filho(Pictures) will put the belt up after all,
the Brazilian's manager, Ed Soares, informed Sherdog.com Thursday
afternoon.

"He went through some personal issues, and he basically pulled
everything together," Soares said.

On Wednesday, Filho (16-0) told Brazilian MMA Web site Tatame: "I
wasn't on a good moment, had depression but I'm rising now and the
Americans forced me to fight now. I'm not afraid of winning or
losing, but I wasn't motivated to train, wasn't training well, so I
decided to do what the contract says and transferred the fight to
June."

Said Soares: "During difficult times you get to see who your true
friends are, and everyone is coming together to help him get ready
for this fight."

The late March bout, a rematch of a December 2007 contest that
Filho won when referee Josh Rosenthal stepped in after hearing what
he thought was a verbal submission, is the featured fight on the
live Versus telecast.

Locked in an armbar, Sonnen (19-9-1) let out a scream. After the
fight had been decided, the Oregon-based wrestler denied that he
wanted out of the fight.